Coupler for toy railroad vehicles



Jan. '5, 1943. J. L .ABoNANNo 2,307,197

(,'OUPLER FOR TOY RAILROAD VEHICLES I Filed July 51,l 1941 INVENTORJos-PH L. ,50m/wvo BY l Patented Jan. 5, 1943 UNiTED STATES 'PATENT v I2,307,197y y f Y,

Joseph L. Bonanno, Maplewood, lN. J., assignox' to The LionelCorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Claims.

The invention relates to couplers for toy railroad vehicles and is moreparticularly directed toward an electro-magnetically operated couplerfor use on toy switch engines.

The present invention contemplates a coupler adapted to be mounted on atoy switch engine to be controlled remotely so that the toy locomotivecan be used for switching toy cars about on a toy track layout.

The accompanying drawing shows, for purposes of illustrating the presentinvention, one of the many embodiments in which the invention may takeform, it being understood that the drawing is illustrative of theinvention rather than limiting the same.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a Vertical sectional view through a fragment of a toylocomotive and through a coupler;

Figure 2 is an inverted plan view o-f the front end of the locomotiveand the coupler; and

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, taken in thedirection of the arrows.

A toy locomotive I0 has a chassis casting, the front end of which isindicated at II. A coupler supporting bracket I2 is secured to thechassis by screws indicated at I3. The bracket carries a pivot post I4and has a depending arm I5. The post I4 carries a swingable coupler barI6, having a short extension I1 adjacent the depending arm I5. The frontend of the coupler bar I6 is provided with a movable coupler head I8.While this coupler head normally lowers by gravity, it is preferablyprovided with a spring I9 which urges it downwardly in a, more positivefashion than where mere gravity is relied upon. The coupler bar whenused on a switching engine is not provided with the usual coupler hook,as it is desirable to be able to release the car from the engine by thelifting of one coupler head only.

The bar I6 is biased to an intermediate or midpositionby coiled spring20 mounted on post I4 and having ends 2| and 22, which pass by extensionIl in the bar I6 and the xed depending arm I5. When the bar I6 isshifted out of midpositio-n, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2,the lower end 22 of the spring is carried with it. This tensions thespring and when the force which shifted the coupler bar is removed, thetensioned spring returns the coupler bar to the mid-position.

The front end of the locomotive carries a cross plate 24 secured inplace by screws 25. This plate provides a slot 26 through which thecoupler bar I6 may swing. It is cut out, as indicated at 21, andprovided with forwardly extending anges 28, 28 for purposes to bedescribed.

A solenoid coil 30 is secured to a frame member 3 I, this frame memberbeing secured to the chassis of the locomotive by screws indicated at32. The frame member is shaped, as will be clear from Figure 3, toprovide space for the coupler bar I6 to swing back and forth above theframe. The solenoid coil 30 attracts an armature 33 and pushes a plunger34 to the left, as shown in the drawing, thereby actuating an arc-shapedelement 35 to bring it against the extension 36 of the coupler head I8.It will be obvious that this arc-shaped coupler head lifter 35 mayengage the extension 3B in any position in which it may be by reason ofthe shifting of the coupler bar out of mid-position.

The coupler head lifter 35 may be made of sheet metal and passes throughthe opening 21. It has two rearwardly extending plates 31, 3l whichoverlie the anges 28, 28 of the cross plate 24 and pass back alongsidethe coil supporting frame.

It is obvious that the invention may be embodied in many forms andconstructions within the scope of the claims and I wish it to beunderstood that the particular form shown is but one of the many forms.Various modifications and changes being possible, I do not otherwiselimit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy railroad vehicle having a xed horizontal solenoid coil, acoupler bar pivoted for movement about a vertical axis and spring biasedto a mid-position over the coil axis, a coupler head movably mounted onthe coupler bar, and a reciprocable armature having a curved faceengageable with the movable coupler head to actuate the latterirrespective of the angular position of the bar.

2. A toy railroad vehicle having a xed horizontal solenoid coil, acoupler bar pivoted about a vertical axis and spring biased toward amidposition over the coil axis, a movable coupler head carried by thebar, and an armature operable by the coil and engageable with thecoupler head irrespective of the angular position of the bar.

3. A toy railroad vehicle having a body, a fixed pivot post carried byand spaced from the end o the body, a coupler bar carried by the pivotand extending beyond the end of the body, spring means biasing the barto mid-position, a movable coupler head carried by the bar, a plate xedto the end of the body and supporting the free end of the bar, alongitudinally extending solenoid coil carried by the body below the barwhen in midposition, a core in the coil, and a coupler head shiftercarried by the core and extending laterally in each direction to beopposite the coupler head in al1 positions of the coupler bar.

4. A toy railroad vehicle having a body, a xed pivot post spaced fromthe end of the body, a coupler bar carried by the pivot and extendingbeyond the end of the body, spring means biasing the bar tomid-position, a movable coupler head carried by the bar, a strap carriedby the body and above which the bar passes, a solenoid coil carried bythe strap below the mid-position of the bar, a core in the coil, and acoupler head shifter carried by the core and extending laterally in eachdirection to be opposite the coupler head in all positions of thecoupler bar.

5. A toy locomotive h ving a cast body, an end plate secured to the bodyand having horizontal. spaced apart end portions below the body. acoupler bar pivoted to the body and extending forwardly between thebottom of the body and the top of the end plate, a movable coupler headcarried by the bar and having a downwardly extending element, a solenoidcoil secured to the body to be below'the bar, a core in the coil, and acoupler head lifter carried by the core and extending laterally in eachdirection to be opposite the downwardly extending element in allpositions of the coupler bar, the coupler head lifter having guideswhich overlie the spaced end portions of the end plate.

JOSEPH L. BONANNO.

